Volume 14, Number 5—May 2008
Research
Risk Factors for Sporadic Shiga Toxin–producing Escherichia coli Infections in Children, Argentina1
Marta Rivas*, Sergio Sosa-Estani†, Josefa Rangel‡, Maria G. Caletti§, Patricia Vallés¶, Carlos D. Roldán§, Laura Balbi¶, Maria C. Marsano de Mollar#, Diego Amoedo§, Elizabeth Miliwebsky*, Isabel Chinen*, Robert M. Hoekstra‡, Paul S. Mead‡, and Patricia M. Griffin‡
Table 2
Univariate analysis of protective factors for Shiga toxin–producing Escherichia coli infections, unadjusted and adjusted, and adjustment factors, Buenos Aires and Mendoza, Argentina, 2001–2002
| Characteristic | % Case-patients† (N = 150) | % Controls† (N = 299) | Unadjusted univariate analysis |
Adjusted univariate analysis* |
Sites‡ | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mOR | 95% CI | p value | mOR | 95% CI | p value | |||||
| Protective factors | ||||||||||
| Eating meatballs at home | 17 | 29 | 0.46 | 0.3–0.8 | 0.004 | 0.44 | 0.2–0.8 | 0.010 | M | |
| Eating meat pie at home | 11 | 23 | 0.40 | 0.2–0.8 | 0.004 | 0.47 | 0.2–0.9 | 0.025 | – | |
| Eating empanadas at home | 20 | 34 | 0.43 | 0.3–0.7 | 0.001 | 0.49 | 0.3–0.9 | 0.016 | M | |
| Respondent always washing hands with soap and water after handling raw beef |
50 |
64 |
0.53 |
0.3–0.8 |
0.004 |
0.57 |
0.3–0.9 |
0.019 |
B, M |
|
| Fixed adjustment factors | ||||||||||
| Eating more than the median number of fruits and vegetables | 33 | 51 | 0.42 | 0.3–0.7 | 0.0002 | – | – | – | B, M | |
| Male sex | 43 | 57 | 0.57 | 0.4–0.9 | 0.01 | – | – | – | B, M | |
| Having a nonparent respondent | 3 | 1 | 0.29 | 0.1–0.8 | 0.009 | – | – | – | M | |
| Respondent always washing hands after handling raw beef | 74 | 90 | 0.27 | 0.1–0.5 | 0.0001 | – | – | – | B, M | |
*Adjusted by the fixed adjustment factors shown. mOR, matched odds ratio; CI, confidence interval.
†The denominator (number of respondents) for case-patients varied from 144 to 150. The denominator for controls varied from 298 to 299.
‡Denotes adjusted univariate analysis significant in Buenos Aires (B), Mendoza (M), or neither site (–).
